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Editor's Report

For service providers from auto repair to medicine, earning the trust of customers is a never-ending responsibility. It starts and ends with clear, straightforward communication.

We all know people who avoid getting annual physicals because they’re convinced that even if they feel great, the doctor will find something wrong with them. If the medical community reinforced that fear by promoting the idea that there really is something wrong with every one of us and we should see a doctor to find out exactly what it is, it’s a safe bet that even more of us would skip those routine visits.

This thought crossed my mind after reading the Car Care Council’s annual recap of results of vehicle inspections held at community car care events across the country and reflecting on a recent experience with my doctor’s office. According to the Council, 84% of the vehicles inspected last year—the highest percentage recorded in five years—needed some type of service or parts. The opportunity this information represents for your business is obvious; however, there is also the risk of misunderstandings if the message about vehicle maintenance isn’t delivered properly to your current and prospective customers. I doubt, for example, that many new customers would be attracted by a sign in your front window proclaiming: There Is Something Wrong with Your Car – Let Us Find Out What It Is!

Make no mistake about it, the Car Care Council and its Be Car Care Aware campaign are among the best things that have ever happened to our industry, and even if you haven’t taken direct advantage of any of the Council’s programs (which you should), your business has undoubtedly benefited from its consumer outreach. At the same time, however, when using information like these inspection results, it’s important you deliver the right message.

Service providers sometimes forget this, as I recently experienced during my visit to the family doctor. A week or so after my annual physical, I received a letter in the mail that said I was in good health except for a deficiency of a certain vitamin. The letter included instructions for getting a short-term prescription for a megadose of this vitamin, followed by an ongoing regimen of over-the-counter supplements. That’s strange, I thought to myself; I’d never heard of anyone suffering a deficiency of this vitamin and I feel fine. When I called the office to get more information, I was assured by an assistant this was pretty common, and because I trust my doctor, that was good enough for me. I followed his instructions to the letter.

In the following weeks and months, I’d casually mentioned my vitamin deficiency to a few friends and family and was more than a little surprised to always get the same reaction: “Oh my gosh, the same exact thing happened to me”—or someone they knew. With a little investigation, I learned that there was in fact a recent change to the recommendations for this vitamin and sales of it have quadrupled in the past year. But why, I wondered, didn’t someone just tell me that? Instead, I was left feeling a little uneasy about my health. And, when I tell the story now, it’s invariably met with: “That’s precisely why I never go to the doctor unless I’m sick. They’ll always find something wrong with you.”

Common sense tells us that whether we’re talking about our bodies or the vehicles we drive, preventive maintenance is a good thing. It’s your responsibility to communicate to your customers not only that it is important, but why.

As the Car Care Council’s report suggests, nearly every vehicle on the road may very well be in need of some attention. Many of the shortcomings discovered during the inspections—low fluid levels and improperly inflated tires among them—are inexpensive to correct now but could lead to bigger problems later if they’re ignored. That’s the message your customers need to hear.